Netflix says calm down, it’s only testing out pre-video ads for its own shows

Understandably, ad-averse subscribers wasted no time in losing their collective minds at the company, with the service’s Facebook page quickly filling with comments by users threatening to cut their service if they see so much as a glimmer of an ad. But Netflix CEO Reed Hastings moved quickly to try to fight fire with fire, writing his own Facebook post to quell dissent, saying, “No advertising coming onto Netflix. Period. Just adding relevant cool trailers for other Netflix content you are likely to love.” Then he posted a stock image of a dollar sign, because sometimes it pays to take a minute and steer hard into one’s “eccentric billionaire” image.

Other spokespeople for the company reiterated Hastings’ statement, calling the ads a test of new features and suggesting that people “calm down.” They also made it clear that any forthcoming ads would only be for Netflix’s own programming, and that the service would never offer third-party advertisers access to its lucrative consumer base.

That would put Netflix in line with other subscriptions services—namely, HBO, which has run promotions in between its films and TV shows for years, and whose HBO Go service often features short trailers before playing videos. But it remains to be seen whether the distinction between “ad” and “trailer” will mean much to a twitchy-eyed streamer, pitchfork at the ready, when a unskippable 30-second spot for House Of Cards or the upcoming third season of Orange Is The New Black comes between them and episode four of a six-hour Cutthroat Kitchen binge.